Chase Checking and Savings Bonuses of Up to $400

Chase has a long history of checking and savings account bonuses. The deals have improved over the years, and now there’s one that pays up to $400 for new customers. To get the first $200 requires opening a Chase Total Checking Account and setting up direct deposit. To get the second $200 requires opening a new Chase Savings Account, depositing at least $15,000 in new money, and maintaining a $15,000 balance for 90 days. Here's the link to the Chase promotions page. This promo instructs you to print the promotions page with the coupon code and to take it to your local Chase branch. The promo is scheduled to end on 7/15/2014, but these promos often end early. Thanks to DA member Hustler for posting on this promo in the DA forum. Below is the small print of the offer:

Bonus/Account Information: The checking offer is not available to existing Chase checking customers, those with fiduciary accounts, or those whose accounts have been closed within 90 days or closed with a negative balance. To receive the $200 checking bonus: 1) Open a new Chase Total Checking account, which is subject to approval. 2) Deposit $100 or more within 10 business days of account opening; AND 3) Have your direct deposit made to this account within 60 days of account opening. Your direct deposit needs to be an electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government. After you have completed all the above requirements, we’ll deposit the bonus in your new account within 10 business days. The bonus cannot be used as the opening deposit. To receive the $200 savings bonus: 1) Open a new Chase Savings account, which is subject to approval. 2) Deposit a total of $15,000 or more in new money into the new savings account within 10 business days of account opening; AND 3) Maintain at least a $15,000 balance for 90 days from the date of deposit. The new money cannot be funds held by Chase or its affiliates. After you have completed all the above requirements, we’ll deposit the bonus in your new account within 10 business days. The Annual Percentage Yield (APY), for Chase Savings effective as of 5/12/14, is 0.01% for all balances in all states. Interest rates are variable and subject to change. Additionally, fees may reduce earnings on the account. You can receive only one new checking and one savings account opening related bonus per calendar year. Bonuses are considered interest and will be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.

History of Bonus Payouts

Chase does have a good reputation at honoring the bonuses. According to my poll that asked whether Chase paid you the bonus as promised, 86% of the readers who took the poll said that Chase paid as promised and no call was required. This is based on 152 readers who took the poll. If you have experience with past Chase promotions and you haven’t taken the poll, it’s still active. Just click here to take it.

Will an ACH Transfer Count as a Direct Deposit?

The $200 checking account bonus requires direct deposit, and according to the small print "Your direct deposit needs to be an electronic deposit of your paycheck, pension or government benefits (such as Social Security) from your employer or the government." In addition, direct deposit can be used to avoid a monthly service fee. For those who don’t receive their pay via direct deposit, an ACH transfer may be used. However, this should be considered a "Your Miles May Vary" (YMMV) option. I wrote about this back in 2011. I’ve seen recent reports saying that transfers from banks like Ally and USAA did not work. However, I’ve also seen reports that said transfers from places like Navy Federal Credit Union did work. If you have received Chase bonuses in the past by using ACH transfers instead of direct deposits, please leave a comment.

Is a $200 Bonus Worth a $15K Deposit?

Anytime there’s a bonus for depositing a certain amount of money, you should determine how much interest will be lost. The Chase Savings Account essentially pays no interest. So you’ll lose out at least 90 days of interest for a $15,000 balance. If you kept that $15,000 in an internet savings account that was paying 1%, you’ll miss out on about $37.50 in interest over those 90 days. So a $200 bonus is a good deal in this interest rate environment.

Account Fees

Another thing that can hurt a bonus is an account that has fees, and as you would expect, these Chase accounts have potential monthly services. These can be avoided if you’re careful.

The Chase Total Checking has no monthly service fee when you do any one of the following each statement period:

Have monthly direct deposits totaling $500 or more made to this account; OR

Keep a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more in your checking account; OR

Keep an average daily balance of $5,000 or more in any combination of qualifying Chase checking, savings and other balances.

Otherwise a $12 Monthly Service Fee will apply in most states ($10 Monthly Service Fee for CA, OR and WA).

Chase Savings has no monthly service fee when you do at least one of the following:

Keep the minimum daily balance of $300 or more in your savings account; OR

Have at least one repeating automatic transfer from your Chase checking account of $25 or more each month. One-time transfers do not qualify; OR

One piece that is missed above is you must keep your accounts open for 6 months or they can deduct the amount back. However after your 3 months you do not have to have the 15k in your account anymore, you can just make sure you meet the requirements to avoid fee's. I don't live in a state with a local chase branch, however I am going to be out of state next week, only a block from a chase branch, going to try to opening one then. Wish me luck.

No wonder it's gone. Anyone could link to the Chase "promotions"/offer page as many times as desired. A new, unique, coupon code would be generated by Chase each time the page was opened, regardless of whether or not the page containing the coupon code was printed (much less used to open account(s)). By doing a Google search on "Chase promotions", and following the links from the search, I discovered that there is a "cottage industry" of people who apparently gather quantities of these Chase coupon codes, and then offer for sale a wide variety of these Chase promotion codes on e-Bay. Bottom line appears to be that Chase allows a certain number of coupon codes to be generated for each of their promotions, and when that number has been reached, their system routes you to their login page. Seems to me that their process for distributing these coupon codes is severely flawed. Whether or not they care is an entirely diffferent matter.

As a Chase customer for many years, let me give you some advice. If you want to play these money bonus games with Chase that is your business but if you make the mistake of becoming a customer, you will never see another bonus from them from my experience. I have had IRAs, CDs, direct deposit checking account, and until recently a large savings account. They all put me in the Premiere status. However, recently when I asked why a dependable customer like myself never got one dollar in any bonus "ever" and could I put the $15,000.00 in my Chase checking which was money from "other" banks to get a bonus by opening a new savings account, I was told "No" because it was not NEW money! It certainly wasn't money I made off of Chase! I just deposited it into my checking account because it is the only checking account we have. They refused to budge so I am. I took my CDs to other banks, and will be transferring our IRAs soon as they mature in July. I will also be putting the bulk of that $15,000 in the checking to another bank or cu account and just ending up with nothing but the checking in Chase. When I find another place I want for the checking, I will be kaput with them. So take note and if you are going to play their "bonus" games with them, make sure "you" come out the winner!

I read the "not too pleasant" comments (here and on the Chase "page") and wonder "why do I carry credit card(s) with them for use in connection with car rentals," i.e. "will they stand behind for collusion/comprehensive coverage...I'm really concerned about their business practices with long term customers. Anyone else concerned?

Looking at the recent post on the Forum, Latest Posts, the question, to me, is, the risk of credit can, and is in some cases, is curtailed immediately. Recently a post in the WSJ focused on line of credits being withdrawn by a major bank in the 2008+ timeframe even though the financials had not changed! With all due respects, yes, this may be over reaction by the lenders, but the ultimate question is...how to handle that risk! It has always been there! More pronounced than before.

The financial institutions cannot fail! Life is gray and thus choices must be made.

Soooooooo, how can a borrower best protect their interest? What are others doing for that day the loan is called, the credit line canceled, etc.???

My wife and I, who were planning to open a new checking account anyway, went to our local Chase branch in Garden Grove, CA and talked to a “Relationship Banker” named [redacted] and opened a checking account. That same day (Jan. 11, 2017) [redacted] contacted Social Security to request that they direct-deposit my wife’s social security check in the account.Today, March 31, the bonus still had not been deposited. I called [redacted], and he told me that because my wife’s social security check, which always comes on the third Wed. of each month, was deposited on March 15, it exceeded the 60-day deadline by a day or two.Help me with the math here. I am a retired English professor and not so good with numbers. But if we opened the account on Jan. 11, that would leave 19 days in Jan. There are 28 days in February, and the social security check was deposited on March 15, which adds 14 more days (or are they counting the deposit day?) Concluding Math: 19+28+14=61 days. So no bonus for us.As soon as I can notify Social Security to change the direct deposit to another bank, I will close out the account, of course, and put Chase Bank out of my life forever—but not before I warn people about their pettiness—and self-serving math. Please be aware of the pettiness of Chase Bank.

Chase Bank worried many of its customers on Monday when an apparent software glitch caused zero balances to be shown. There were fears that hackers were responsible, but Chase denied it. CNET reported that a Chase spokesperson stated "that the problem was related to an internal issue and not a security breach." The problem appears to have been resolved. Chase customer support has tweeted that "we're back to business as usual."

I logged into my Chase account this morning, and my account balances are correct. I didn't log into my Chase...

Update 7/3/2013: There's a new $200 Chase checking account bonus. It's scheduled to end on 8/15/13.

Update 4/19/13: There's a new $150 Chase checking account bonus available online. It's scheduled to end on 7/6/13.

Update 2/27/13: The largest online Chase checking account bonus that I currently can find is $125. This is scheduled to end on 4/6/13.

Earlier this year Chase Bank had been offering a $200 checking account bonus that was available online. That appears to be no longer available. The largest bonus that's available online that I can find now...

Update 7/30/2013: There's a new $200 Chase checking account bonus. It's scheduled to end on 8/15/13.

Update 7/30/2013: There's a new $150 Chase checking account bonus available online. It's scheduled to end on 10/5/13.

Chase bonuses are becoming larger, but beware that it's harder now to avoid monthly fees. The latest bonus is $200 for opening a new Chase Total Checking account and setting up direct deposit. You can apply online or you can request that a coupon be emailed to you so you can open the account at a branch....

If you have large savings, the amount that you can make from bank bonuses may not be enough to matter. However, for savings balances around $10K, bank bonuses can be significant. For example, if you have $10K in a savings account with a 1.00% rate, you'll earn about $100 over a year. With many bonuses, you can earn $100 soon after you open an account.

The bank best known for its new-account bonuses is Chase Bank. They have long offered $100 checking account bonuses. Unlike interest rates, bonus amounts have gone...

A credit card bonus that's worth over $500 is a lot more attractive than a bank account paying 1.XY% interest. So that's why I've started to post on credit card deals such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. In today's post I'll review the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Card and its bonus which can be...